Day 26 parents

When was the last time you talked with your parents? How did the conversation go?

I believe I've talked to my dad about 7 times in ten years and I can't even remember the last time. My dad was never abusive, or verbally insulting. He provided enough financially for us to get by. My dad was just never there and when he was there he would rather not interact with us. If we do talk on the phone its less than 5 minutes and neither of us really have much to say. I believe he's a nice enough person but just not a family person. We live less than 10 minutes apart, and he's seen my two older kids once (7,5 years old) and my youngest never (age almost 2). We try to call to set up a time to meet up but usually no answer.

My mother was very abusive growing up. She wasn't happily married to my dad, and constantly stated she wished she was somewhere else. She didn't enjoy raising children and I'm sure she felt trapped a lot. She was only nice and caring to my youngest brother, and they seem like they have the only relationship of any of us.
Our conversations are very brief and usually less than 5 minutes. I usually can't take her longer than that since she doesn't talk to anyone but talks at them (ex: you should do this, or that). She at least sees my kids on their birthdays but other than that its always an excuse not to. She'd rather dog sit for my younger brother than see her grandkids.

My wife and I have been talking about moving closer to her parents which I'm in favor of. They are very personable and love being around us and our children.

 

This makes me so sad. No wonder you have TMS. I'm glad you were able to find a loving wife and are able to be loving with your children (at least from some of your posts I've read). I hope you get better.